This invention relates to improved methods and apparatus for allowing the police to check various information relating to an automobile or its driver.
When a police patrol officer pulls over a motorist in a suspect vehicle for a possible traffic violation the police officer may request that the motorist produce:(1) an operator""s License; (2) registration papers for the suspect vehicle; and (3) the insurance card for the suspect vehicle.
With the operator""s license/insurance card and/or vehicle registration papers, the officer may go back into his patrol car and inquire of the licensing office or police station whether the driver is actually and positively the licensed driver and also may verify the ownership of the vehicle in question. The police officer only does a visual observation of the insurance papers even if the driver/motorist presents to the police fake or forged insurance papers. The police officer will take in its face value that he has just seen and validate the insurance papers. There is no way for the police officer to verify the validity of the motorist/driver""s insurance papers as he verified the operator license. Because there is no way to verify the validity of the insurance papers when pulled over by the police, some motorists/drivers drive with fake or forge auto insurance papers or carry no insurance at all. Some other times an uninsured driver drives his/her uninsured vehicle very carefully or cautiously so as to succeed in eluding law enforcement officers. Most of the time they succeed in eluding law enforcement officers by their innocent looking driving styles. As a result the xe2x80x9cuninsured motoristxe2x80x9d causes insurance rates to go up every year.
The present invention in one or more embodiments is designed to detect those motorists/drivers driving without auto insurance coverage. The present invention in one or more embodiments puts fear in those drivers who indulge in driving uninsured vehicles because the chances of being caught by law enforcement are higher now that they can be caught in their tracks. Hopefully this invention will help reduce uninsured motorists"" insurance.
The present invention in one embodiment provides an apparatus comprising a first identification device, which is attached to a suspect vehicle and a suspect vehicle detection device which is attached to a police vehicle. The first identification device contains a first set of data concerning the insurance coverage for the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle detection device obtains the first set of data from the first identification device. The first identification device is comprised of electronic memory in which the first set of data is stored. The first identification device may be attached to a windshield of the suspect vehicle. The first set of data may be comprised of an insurance underwriter code corresponding to the insurance underwriter which covers the suspect vehicle, an issue date and a an expiration date of an insurance policy covering the suspect vehicle, an insurance policy number of the insurance policy which covers the suspect vehicle, a motor vehicle manufacturer identfication number of the suspect vehicle, the name of the owner of the suspect vehicle, and the suspect vehicle license plate number.
A second identification device can be provided which is similar to the first identification devie and which also may contain the first set of data. The first identification device may be attached to the front windshield of the suspect vehicle, while the second identification device may be attached to the rear windshield of the suspect vehicle.
The apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention may be further comprised of a verification center. The police vehicle may send the first set of data to the verification center along with a request for verification of the first set of data. The verification center may provide a verification signal to the police vehicle in response, and the verification signal may indicate whether the first set of data is valid. The verification center may include memory which includes a table of information relating to the insurance coverage of a plurality of vehicles.
Alternatively or additionally the police vehicle may include a table of data relating to insurance coverage of a plurality of vehicles and a processor. The processor of the police vehicle may compare the first set of data obtained from the suspect vehicle with the table of data in the police vehicle, and the processor may cause an indication to be produced indicating whether the first set of data is contained in the table of data in the police vehicle. The police vehicle may includes a display device and the indication produced may be a visual indication on the display device.